Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that replaces missing bone and/or repairs bone fractures. Bone generally has the ability to regenerate well but may require a scaffold to do so. Bone grafts may be allograft (cadaveric bone e.g., from a bone bank), autologous (i.e., bone harvested from the patient's own body, for example from the iliac crest), or synthetic. Most bone grafts are expected to be resorbed and replaced as the natural bone heals over time.
Successful biomaterials may include osteoconduction (guiding the reparative growth of the natural bone), osteoinduction (encouraging undifferentiated cells to become active osteoblasts), and/or osteogenesis (living bone cells in the graft material contributing to bone remodeling). Although traditional bone grafts may exhibit certain advantages, traditional allograft may not exhibit the properties desired, may be difficult to obtain, or may not be in a shape or form suitable for implantation.